Founded in Japan in 1920, Mazda began as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. Manufacturing machine tools then moving to vehicles, with the introduction of the Mazda-Go in 1931, the company also supplied the Japanese military throughout the Second World War, with variations of the Type 99 rifle. In the 1960s, Mazda put a major engineering effort into development of the Wankel rotary engine and formally entered the North American market in 1970.

To say that the global preview for the new MX-5 was “exclusive” would be like calling the Moon “rarely visited”. Only eight North American journalists had the chance to drive one of just four available cars over the course of two days. The good news is that we each got nearly two hours in the “ND”, all on mostly empty roads and without a drive partner.

The better news is that I got an additional two hours to interview key management and engineering personnel from Mazda after my drive. I didn’t get all the answers I wanted, but I got a few that you won’t get anywhere else — at least not yet.Read More >

One of the burdens of being right is that people are always trying to prove you wrong.

The Mazda MX-5 Miata knows what I’m talking about. For a quarter century, the Miata has suffered the slings and arrows of upstart challengers. Those others have come and gone while the Miata remains. It’s right and Mazda knows it.

The Miata doesn’t get refreshed often, but it just happened again. Until you can buy that one, this old crock, the “NC,” is your only choice.

How can a car that’s 10 years old with less power than the Scion FR-S (which I have already commented about) and an automatic transmission still be right? I’m sure to like this car even less than I liked the Toyobaru, right?